When you use other file formats supported by Canvas X Draw, you can select options when you open, place, import, save, or export some types of files. The most common file formats and their options are described in this section.
When opening PDF files, you can select your import options in the PDF & PS Import Options dialog box.
Default Color Space | Select RGB or CMYK. |
Embedded fonts | Select either Substitute or Convert to paths. |
Vector precision | Select from one to three decimal points for precision. |
Text merging | Select an option for text tolerance.
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Text flow | Select a Text flow option to set how Canvas X Draw will handle hard returns in text objects.
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Image merging | Select On to allow Canvas X Draw to merge adjacent image tiles/strips from right to left, layer by layer. |
Page selection | Use this option to specify pages for import. The default is [all pages]. Other predefined values are [even pages] and [odd pages], which would import only the even and odd pages, respectively. Other page selections may be specified as a combination of numbers separated with commas; e.g, 2, 5, 8, 13. Consecutive pages may be specified using two numbers separated with a dash; e.g., 6-9. You can even use combinations like 1, 5 - 7, 9, which would import pages 1, 5, 6, 7, and 9. The combination 1, 2, 4, 6- would import pages 1, 2, 4, 6 and all subsequent pages. |
Layers | Select an option for importing PDF documents that contain layers.
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Save these settings as default | Saves the current settings as the default. |
Default | Click Default to obtain the default settings. |
When saving in PDF - Acrobat® format, you can select export options in the PDF Options dialog box that appears before the file is saved. (See Exporting as PDF.)
Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) format is a standard for exchanging 2-D graphics and text.
With Canvas X Draw, you can open, modify, and save CGM files created in other applications. CGM file properties, including WebCGM tags are retained, and can be viewed in the Object Properties palette.
Variations and extensions to the “standard” format can create incompatibilities with the Canvas X Draw file filter. When you save a Canvas X Draw document in CGM format, Canvas X Draw makes the following image color mode conversions:
Canvas X Draw image mode | CGM image mode |
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CMYK, Duotone, Grayscale, and LAB color | RGB cell arrays |
Black & White | CGM versions 1 and 2: RGB cell arrays CGM versions 3 and 4: Black & White |
Multichannel | First channel becomes an RGB cell array; other channels ignored |
CGM Version | Select a version. If your original document was Version 4 (WebCGM), be sure to select this version for export so that any imported data is preserved in the exported file. |
Compliance | Select either CALS or ATA. |
VDC Precision | Select either 16 Bit Integer or 32 Bit Fixed. |
Scaling Mode | Select either Abstract or Metric. |
Beziers As Polygons | If objects contain a fill ink, select this option to preserve it. All beziers will export as polygons. If this option is deselected and the objects are exported as beziers, the fill color is removed. |
Export Layer As Picture | If selected, each layer is exported as a separate image. If deselected, the file will be exported as one image. |
Export Paint Object | If your file contains paint objects, select this option to export them. Deselect this option if you do not want to export the paint objects. |
Bitonal Image Compression | This option is enabled if Version 3 or 4 is selected in the CGM Version menu. Select either Not Compressed, Group 3 (1-dimensional), or Group 4 (2-dimensional). |
Canvas X Draw also supports importing CGM and CGM*PIP files. (See Importing CGM Files.)
Defined by AutoCAD, DWG is accepted as the standard file format for data interchange by CAD users worldwide. The AutoCAD DWG import filter lets you import native AutoCAD® 2004 files. into Canvas X Draw. This filter fits an AutoCAD drawing into a specified page format.
General options | Source Unit | Select the source unit from the menu. The chosen unit will become the document unit. |
Drawing Scale | Select a scale from the menu. You can even use Fit to Paper, if necessary. You can also select Custom scale and then enter the exact scale you want in the Drawing scale fields. | |
Paper Format | Select a paper size from the menu. | |
Landscape mode | Select this option to change the page orientation. | |
Dark background | Select this option to use a black paper color. The lines will be white on import. The paper color can be changed after in the Document Setup manager (Layout | Document Setup). | |
Advanced options | Ignore Line Widths | Select this option to set a hairline stroke for each object. |
Explode AutoCAD hatches | Select this option to convert any hatch inks in the original to objects. | |
Explode AutoCAD blocks | Select this option to convert blocks to objects. | |
Merge imported layers | Select this option to merge all imported layers into one layer in Canvas X Draw. | |
Import empty layers | Select this option to import any empty layers in the original file. | |
Substitute AutoCAD fonts with Arial | Select this option to convert AutoCAD fonts to Arial to allow them to be edited. | |
Save these settings as default | Saves the current settings as the default. | |
Default | Click Default to obtain the default settings. |
Drawing Interchange Format (DXF) is a format developed by Autodesk, Inc., for exchanging data with AutoCAD and other drawing applications. DXF format provides platform-independent storage of 2D and 3D technical drawings and supports multiple layers. Canvas X Draw supports DXF files containing ASCII data, but does not support DXF files that contain data in binary format.
When opening or placing DXF files, the DWG & DXF Import dialog box opens. The DXF filter fits a DXF file to a specified page format. As with, the DWG import, you should know the Source Unit, Paper Format, and Drawing Scale.
When opening a DXF file, Canvas X Draw makes the following conversions from DXF objects to Canvas X Draw objects:
DXF objects | Canvas X Draw objects |
Blocks | Groups |
Traces, Solids, and Quadratic polylines | Polygons |
B-spline Polylines | Bézier curve paths |
ATTDEF and ATTRIB | Text objects |
Canvas X Draw doesn’t support 3D objects (3D lines and 3D Face objects in DXF files), so these objects are not imported into Canvas X Draw.
When you save a document in DXF format, Canvas X Draw converts the following Canvas X Draw objects and attributes to DXF objects and attributes:
Canvas X Draw objects/attributes | DXF objects/attributes |
Paint object | Not converted |
Pen and fill patterns | Solid pens are exported; fills are not exported |
Arcs | Polylines |
Calligraphic pen strokes | Fixed-width pen strokes |
Continuous dashes | Dashes start in each segment |
Layer names with spaces or non-uppercase characters | Spaces removed and characters become uppercase |
Grayed layers | Objects appear in original colors |
In the DXF export options dialog box, select the platform format to use. You can also select options for exporting lines and circles.
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) is a file format used to save individual PostScript graphics.
When you open or place an EPS file, a dialog box prompts you to choose an import method.
Choose an option and click OK.
GIF is the best format for graphics that contain a small number of colors, such as vector art with flat colors. GIF format supports Black & White, Grayscale, and Indexed color images, with 1 to 8 bits of color data for a maximum of 256 colors.
Choose File | Save As.
GIF Options
JPEG format provides compression of high resolution, full-color (24- bit) RGB images. JPEG is designed for efficient storage of continuous-tone images such as photographs. JPEG is an abbreviation of Joint Photographic Experts Group, a standards organization that promoted the format.
When you open or import a Photoshop file that contains layers, Canvas X Draw imports the file’s layers as separate objects and stacks them in the document on the current layer.
Layers that have transparency are imported with visibility masks. Canvas X Draw creates an alpha channel and a channel mask for a Photoshop layer mask. Canvas X Draw also imports alpha channels.
Tag Image File Format is a high resolution, raster image format. Canvas X Draw supports both RGB and CMYK TIFFs. Although TIFF is a common format, many TIFF variations exist. Different resolutions, color systems, previews, and compression schemes make the format flexible, but can cause compatibility problems.
Canvas X Draw can read tiled TIFFs. A tiled TIFF is an image divided into smaller, rectangular portions.
When you save TIFF files, you have various options in the Export TIFF dialog box.
Various compression options are available, depending on the mode of the image you are saving.
Compression |
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Resolution | Indicates the default resolution. Enter a value in the Horizontal and Vertical field, if necessary. |
Canvas X Draw supports transparency in TIFF images upon import and export. In Canvas X Draw, you can create transparency in images using either a clipping path, channel mask, or visibility mask.
If you are using vector objects, the vector objects will be rendered before exporting.
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a vector graphics language written in Extensible Markup Language (XML). This format enables two-dimensional images to be displayed in XML pages on the Web. With the SVG format, graphics are coded directly into an XML document.
In contrast to JPEG and GIF images on the Web, which are bitmapped and always remain a specified size, SVG images are scalable to the size of the viewing window and will adjust in size and resolution according to the window in which it is displayed.
General options | ||
Image options | Image Format |
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JPEG Quality | Four JPEG quality levels are available:
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Anti-aliasing | Smoothes the edges of rendered vector objects and text objects.
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Save these settings as default | If you have never selected the save settings option, clicking Default will switch the dialog box settings to the Canvas X Draw default. Select to save the current settings in the dialog box for all documents. Otherwise, Canvas X Draw saves the settings for the current document only. | |
Text is a standard format for files containing only ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) encoded characters.
Text format is available on nearly every computer platform; it’s the “plain vanilla” format, the lowest common denominator for words and numbers. Text files don’t include proprietary or application-specific character or formatting codes. Some punctuation marks, symbols, and all accented letters are non-ASCII characters that display incorrectly when used in text files. Still, ASCII text can be used to transfer text among a variety of applications, including text editors, word processors, and databases.
When you open a text file, Canvas X Draw creates one text object containing the file’s contents, and assigns the default font and text formatting attributes to it. If the file contains more text than can fit in the Canvas X Draw workspace, Canvas X Draw truncates the text object and displays an overflow indicator. You can then flow the truncated text into other columns.